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Police hunt Lego thieves

Lego theft is a growing problem around the world, Seymour Toyshop owner Werner Baumann tells 3AW Breakfast after losing $15,000 worth of the toy in a carefully executed heist.

Media interest in the crime spree has been building since thieves broke into Toyworld on Station Street, Seymour, on May 24 and May 26. Gaining entry by removing the front glass door, they stole a Lego stand valued at $10,000 before fleeing in a car.

The thieves once again removed the front glass door, and stole a further $5000 in Lego, mainly the Lego "City" and Lego "Technic" sets.

Shelves stripped bare ... Owner of Toyworld Seymour Werner Baumann, where a total of $15,000 of Lego was stolen. Photo: Justin McManus

Owner of Seymour Toyworld, Werner Baumann, said the robbers were a highly organised and professional group targeting toy stores for Lego.

‘‘These people are very smart in what they’re doing,’’ he said.‘‘They understand how business works and how to break into places without leaving any evidence.’’

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Mr Baumann said the thieves were ‘‘absolutely not locals’’, and that several other Toyworld franchises had also been robbed this year.

He said the offenders had stolen most of his Lego stock, leaving the country store with only 10 per cent ‘‘of what I usually have’’.

‘‘It will seriously impact my business, because Lego is a very good seller,’’ he said.

It is understood the first toy store to fall prey to Lego thieves was Toyworld in Macksville, in northern NSW, which was robbed twice in October and November.

Senior staff member Rowena Davies said the bandits came well prepared, breaking in through the rear of the store. “You have to go through someone’s backyard to get in, and they also came with an angle grinder to cut the thick bars on the door,” she said.

The robbers stole a total of $12,000 in Lego.

Toyworld Benalla store owner Ian Davies said he was targeted over the Christmas period, when bandits stole more than $5000 dollars’ worth of Lego.He said he was lucky it wasn’t more.

‘‘Because it was just after Christmas, we’d sold most of our Lego by this point,’’ he said.

‘‘But if you put [the boxes] flat from the ground up, it would be about 2.5 metres high - you’d need at least two to three people to carry it all out.’’He said he knew of several stores in NSW that were targeted a few months before his own store.

‘‘It seems like they’re picking easier targets [than big stores] like Kmart - smaller businesses are unable to have the same level of security as larger stores,’’ Mr Davies said.

The thieves knew exactly what to take from the Benalla store, he said, and came well prepared with crowbars and gloves.

‘‘They definitely knew what they were doing,’’ he said.

Darren Neil, owner of Toy Kingdom at Fawkner, was robbed twice in the space of a month in April and May this year.

Hours before the first break-in, Mr Neil said he received a call from a witness who saw a van with blacked-out number plates circling his store. When he arrived about 7am the next day, he found store windows broken and Lego sets valued at $3000 gone.

“But it was the glass replacement which added an additional $8000,” he said.

Detective Senior Constable Ian Porter told radio station 3AW he suspected the Lego was being sold online or at markets in Melbourne.

‘‘[It’s important] that the public are aware of any market or market stalls that are selling Lego, in particular the Lego ‘Technic’ brand and the Lego ‘City’ brand,’’ he said.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Senior Constable Melissa Seach said police were keen to speak to any witnesses to the break-ins.

Anyone with information is asked to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.